Now that you’ve survived all eight episodes of Crystal Lake, there’s plenty of bloody horror moments to be had in the week of Halloween.
For fans missing the violence and gore of the scenic lakeside horror series, it’s the perfect time to take a trip through the Friday the 13th franchise and some of the summer camp slashers it’s inspired over the years after Pamela Voorhees’ killer rampage in 1980.
From the franchise that launched Crystal Lake, to its ’80s successors and today’s meta takes on the genre, the subgenre has taken on new blood over the decades and given us more reasons than ever to stay out of the woods and curl up in front of the TV.
Scroll on for 10 summer camp slasher genres to revisit after your Crystal Lake binge.
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‘Friday the 13th’ (1980-)
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection With the prequel series fresh on your mind, what better franchise to jump into than the slasher that started it all?
Catch up with Pam Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) and some of your favorite Crystal Lake residents in writer Victor Miller and director Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th (1980), which includes the inspiration for a pivotal kill scene in the series.
And with 12 titles in the franchise (fingers crossed for a new sequel to bring us to lucky number 13 soon), continue your binge with Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Friday the 13th Part III (1982), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985), Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason X (2002), Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and the 2009 franchise reboot Friday the 13th.
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‘The Burning’ (1981)
Image Credit: Filmways Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Cashing in on the summer camp slasher craze started by Friday the 13th, this one was inspired by a New York urban legend.
In The Burning (1981), Cropsy is an alcoholic camp caretaker who suffers severe burns in a prank gone wrong. After his release from the hospital five years later, the now disfigured Cropsy begins picking off campers at Camp Stonewater with a pair of hedge trimmers.
If you can get past the fact that Harvey Weinstein was a producer and writer on this film, enjoy some performances from young Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens and Holly Hunter.
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‘Madman’ (1981)
Image Credit: Jensen Farley Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection The same year The Burning was released, another summer camp slasher also found inspiration in the urban legend of Cropsey.
In Madman (1981), campers and counselors are killed off by the axe-wielding Madman Marz, a local man who killed his family and escaped into the woods after an attempted lynching.
Although the film was murdered by reviewers upon its initial release, and even seized by police during the UK’s video nasty panic of the 1980s, Madman has since been solidified as a cult hit.
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‘Sleepaway Camp’ (1983-2012)
Image Credit: United Film Distribution Company/Courtesy Everett Collection Another summer camp slasher that spawned multiple sequels, Sleepaway Camp is a cult cousin to Friday the 13th.
In the 1983 first installment, shy teen Angela (Felissa Rose) is sent to Camp Arawak with her cousin Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten) years after a tragic boating accident kills her family. As multiple campers and counselors turn up dead in bizarre incidents, it becomes clear that the victims have all bullied Angela.
With a controversial killer reveal that could not be made today, Sleepaway Camp spawned four sequels and a cult following.
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‘The Final Girls’ (2015)
Image Credit: Stage 6 Films Decades removed from the summer camp slasher sub-genre craze of the ’80s, this 2010s horror comedy offered a meta take.
In The Final Girls, Max (Taissa Farmiga) is mourning the death of her actress mother Amanda (Malin Akerman) when she’s invited to an anniversary screening of her late mom’s slasher Camp Bloodbath. After a supernatural occurrence transports Max and her friends into the movie, she has a chance to reconnect with her mom through her character Nancy, while trying to outrun the machete-wielding killer Billy Murphy and survive until the credits.
With plenty of bloody moments for the horror fans, this film is full of heart and humor as well.
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‘American Horror Story: 1984’ (2019)
Image Credit: FX While American Horror Story has proven to be an acquired taste, Ryan Murphy’s horror anthology series churned out a fun tribute to summer camp slashers.
Season 9 of the FX series was American Horror Story: 1984, following a group of counselors to a summer gig at Camp Redwood, where former camper Margaret Booth (Leslie Grossman) has reopened the camp 14 years after she was the only survivor of a murderous rampage. In addition to plenty of slasher references and nostalgic nods, this season has a few twists in store for fans of the genre.
Emma Roberts stars as “final girl” Brooke Thompson, with other counselors and camp staff played by Billie Lourd, Angelica Ross, Matthew Morrison, Cody Fern, Gus Kenworthy and DeRon Horton, plus some familiar Ryan Murphy collaborators.
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‘Fear Street Part Two: 1978’ (2021)
Image Credit: Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection The second installment in Netflix’s adaptation of R.L. Stine’s Fear Street trilogy took fans to Camp Nightwing.
Set in 1978, the movie follows Shadyside teen Ziggy Berman (Sadie Sink) to Camp Nightwing, where someone is possessed by the town’s centuries-old curse, sending them on a bloody massacre of campers and counselors.
In addition to revisiting 1978, it’s also worth a full trip through time in the Netflix trilogy adaptation, which includes Fear Street Part One: 1994 and Part Three: 1666.
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‘They/Them’ (2022)
Image Credit: Josh Stringer/Peacock/Courtesy Everett Collection Cheekily pronounced “They Slash Them,” this slasher gave the traditional summer camp setting an LGBTQ twist.
In They/Them, a group of queer teens are subjected to the barbaric psychological practices of Whistler Camp’s conversion therapy while a masked killer starts picking off counselors. Although some of the themes and metaphors can be a little much, it’s not a genre that’s ever been known for subtlety.
With a talented young cast of LGBTQ actors like Theo Germaine, Cooper Koch and Anna Lore, the slasher also features performances from Anna Chlumsky and Friday the 13th (1980) alum Kevin Bacon.
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‘Hell of a Summer’ (2023)
Image Credit: Neon/Courtesy Everett Collection Finn Wolfhard and his writing/directing partner Billy Bryk took a stab at the genre with this teen slasher in 2023.
In Hell of a Summer, the counselors at Camp Pineway are stalked by a killer in a devil mask. It’s a pretty straightforward entry to the summer camp slasher subgenre with a Gen Z ensemble, plus Adam Pally.
Consider it prerequisite viewing for Wolfhard and Bryk’s Idle Hands reimagining in the works.
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‘Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma’ (2026)
Image Credit: Mubi/Courtesy Everett Collection Jane Schoenbrun’s latest meta take on media dives into the summer camp slasher with a hyper-stylized fever dream of the genre.
In Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma, Hannah Einbinder plays up-and-coming director Kris Williams, who has landed a gig reviving the Camp Miasma franchise. Visiting the campgrounds where the original movie was filmed, she sparks a steamy connection with “final girl” actress Billy Presley (Gillian Anderson) and learns that the franchise’s killer Little Death (Jack Haven) lurks beneath the lake’s surface.
Schoenbrun provides a witty and unique update on the slasher with their latest, which subverts queer tropes of the genre and explores sex and desire through a trans lens.
